REsident REvil 4 REmake REview
Attack of the games I've tried and didn't like then came back later to love.
I've played RE3 more times than I care to count because I had a lot of fun with it but fun doesn't always equal the perfect game, it has its flaws. I just run through it so much because it's easy and I've learned it, the actual game I gave a 6/10, all I ask is that this one beats that.
I don't know if I'm going to be the first person to say this but here are my honest thoughts…let me preface by saying this is the PS4 version. It ran fine, a few hitches but nothing unplayable, nothing intolerable, just small little stuff. Graphics are obviously downsized as the same with file size which I expected but judging from the PS5 footage I've seen, that mainly affects performance, the graphics remain similar enough.
When I first saw the trailers, the graphics looked obviously good, I was blown away with RE2 and I'm not a total graphic fidelity guy or anything, I still play old games but I can also appreciate a good graphics game as much as anyone and I'm sorry but that first chapter of the game is just bad. His hair glistens, which sounds pathetic to complain about but in a nighttime setting, especially that opening scene, it just doesn't make sense when Leon's hair lights up the room more than his flashlight. In the light, it looks real good but aside from the environment, it renders the photo mode almost pointless because Leon's face is so stock it's not even funny. It wouldn't be a problem because you're looking at his back anyway but photo mode allows it, so you see it. There aren't filters or poses either, maybe I was just spoiled by Horizon Zero Dawn. But that's not even all.
This game is a remake of something from 2005 and it reflects that, there are a lot of narrow linear passages to get from point A to point B, it feels like you're heading from town setting to town setting to wipe out waves of zombies. I know this was more action based than that of the previous entries but still, do you beat enemies or outrun them, do you save ammo or not? It's a gamble.
One of the things that turned me off initially from the 2005 version was that everything seemed very samey, like I was shooting these villagers that were copies of each other and they just kept reappearing. Now there are some zombies that you'll see copied but now it's not so glaringly obvious due to the upglow. But it can get really irritating hearing them say the same voice lines over and over, I missed when they didn't talk. But what that first chapter covers is when I sold the original game back, heck it's what they based the demo off of. When I played the RE2 and 3 remake demos, I was blown away but had I played this one, I might not have picked it up. But! It kind of gets better and better as it goes on so you're clear :)
There are certain parts where it hit that whimsy because I would be like "I'm actually doing this." I don't really wanna spoil those moments for you (if you don't know them already from the original) but even knowing some of them were coming, I was reminded of how cool some of the gameplay context moments were in Jedi Outcast and how rare it's been since then to feel that.
Leon is very reactive, whether it be his grunts and breathing or when he's hurt to when there's poop and flies and he waves his hands and puts his hands up to his face. There were some points that I knew what was going on just based on his reactions alone. I mean the controller itself is used quite effectively too with voices coming on it and such.
Leon's whole personality has shifted, he was a dork in the last game (RE2) but he's become hardened, something that I've always found the contrast of as a little too much, too uncomfortable for me but hearing his voice lines, he's still a dork at heart, just has a lot more going on and is better prepared for it…mostly. In RE2, he'd say "What the-" whenever he saw something unnatural like a zombie now he says it when he sees something common like a bodybag. I mean, what happened between 2 and 4 is really up to a few second recap so a whole game could've filled that period but whatever. If you get confused, apparently Darkside Chronicles has some of that information but you probably know that's not an easy one to find.
One of the things I enjoyed about RE3RE was that it had the quick dodge. Some people thought this mechanic was too broken because once you got a rhythm down, you could parry. Well you don't have the quick dodge this time (THANKS A LOT!) but you have an evade which is a quick time that appears whenever it feels like it. But you can also stealth kill if you have the knife and if they have a knife then you can parry that and I say if you have the knife because it now breaks and you can either repair it or find a new one but eventually it wasn't really a problem because I found them so frequently. You also have a melee which after getting a zombie stunned you can kick for a wide effect (hitting multiple targets) and or depending on the situation, strike them with your knife. It's especially helpful when they've hit the ground because you're not awkwardly standing over them to try and aim your reticle to make sure they stay down while they're rising up again, instead, you just give it a finishing move. But what's that? You have no room for a knife in your inventory because it's packed with grenades? Just use the item box. What's that? You can't store just anything? Mainly weapons? Well, that sucks. So it gives, it takes.
In fact, I feel like what I liked about RE3 wasn't really present here but what I disliked about RE3 wasn't really an issue here either, leaving room for new things to like, perhaps even more. With that said, there are parts reminiscent of RE3RE like how the Hospital plays out, having Jill out of commission and you play as Carlos to go around the place, getting key cards and such, running into pale heads, giving her a cure. That's basically done the same way with Ashley and Leon, it's not a tired trope because it's only happened once before as far as I know but that's the only pass I'll give it for that. This is also a much longer game than the previous ones so it's not as detrimental.
There are traps now, stuff to slow you down and hurt you just a little but enough that it may hurt more in the long run (not like poison but if a zombie gets you or something, you're down that much more) but you can eat chicken eggs now, so you're good! Speaking of zombies, they are indeed zombies but more like people with a spell put on them sort of. Necromanced or whatever. You can jump through windows, the world is bigger to explore but not so big that you're getting (totally) lost (I mentioned linear passages after all). This allows for more collectible opportunities.
Money, there's a money system which is obviously used for the merchant, this allows for challenges you can complete for dough, similar to that of the ones that are usually in the menu. Most of your weapons come from this but that's the thing, I feel like everything is a soft introduction and I in no way mean that in a bad way, I mean it in the best way. You're not forced to use the merchant if you don't want to but it's definitely helpful and you can still pick up some of the weapons and items here and there like any other game if you wanted.
There's a treasure system which you can collect stuff and then apply gems to make them more valuable to sell. It'd be cool if the treasures were collectibles in the menu and you in turn put gems in them to unlock the models and concept art they already have in there but still cool. Use that money to get upgrades and repairs and stuff.
It's split into chapters for whatever reason, which I don't really care for, it doesn't exactly hurt the experience but it does add to a series of other problems I had, making it feel like each chapter was something new but at the same time disjointing it overall. Sometimes like a tv show. Revelations did that as well. At one point I remember thinking "Did that happen in the actual game?" referring to the original, as if I wasn't already playing a game, it was kind of like an adaptation to me, where these scenes that I felt like I should know were being brought to a new screen kind of like HBO's The Last of Us. I feel like this was probably made for fans of the original. One thing I already know I prefer in the original is Ramon's design. He was a creepy little kid before, almost like a puppet but now he's just a little old man that acts like he's at the opera.
It ended up ranking about where I expected with me preferring RE2 just a little more for being a bit tighter around the edges but this game does improve on a lot from the ones previous, putting it above RE3 overall, we'll see how the memories of this game hold up though. I may even visit the original (is it that different?) now that it gave me interest. I was a little disappointed by that ending though. Not by the final boss or cutscenes but more that Ashley was pushed aside "We're a team, right?"
Attack of the games I've tried and didn't like then came back later to love.
I've played RE3 more times than I care to count because I had a lot of fun with it but fun doesn't always equal the perfect game, it has its flaws. I just run through it so much because it's easy and I've learned it, the actual game I gave a 6/10, all I ask is that this one beats that.
I don't know if I'm going to be the first person to say this but here are my honest thoughts…let me preface by saying this is the PS4 version. It ran fine, a few hitches but nothing unplayable, nothing intolerable, just small little stuff. Graphics are obviously downsized as the same with file size which I expected but judging from the PS5 footage I've seen, that mainly affects performance, the graphics remain similar enough.
When I first saw the trailers, the graphics looked obviously good, I was blown away with RE2 and I'm not a total graphic fidelity guy or anything, I still play old games but I can also appreciate a good graphics game as much as anyone and I'm sorry but that first chapter of the game is just bad. His hair glistens, which sounds pathetic to complain about but in a nighttime setting, especially that opening scene, it just doesn't make sense when Leon's hair lights up the room more than his flashlight. In the light, it looks real good but aside from the environment, it renders the photo mode almost pointless because Leon's face is so stock it's not even funny. It wouldn't be a problem because you're looking at his back anyway but photo mode allows it, so you see it. There aren't filters or poses either, maybe I was just spoiled by Horizon Zero Dawn. But that's not even all.
This game is a remake of something from 2005 and it reflects that, there are a lot of narrow linear passages to get from point A to point B, it feels like you're heading from town setting to town setting to wipe out waves of zombies. I know this was more action based than that of the previous entries but still, do you beat enemies or outrun them, do you save ammo or not? It's a gamble.
One of the things that turned me off initially from the 2005 version was that everything seemed very samey, like I was shooting these villagers that were copies of each other and they just kept reappearing. Now there are some zombies that you'll see copied but now it's not so glaringly obvious due to the upglow. But it can get really irritating hearing them say the same voice lines over and over, I missed when they didn't talk. But what that first chapter covers is when I sold the original game back, heck it's what they based the demo off of. When I played the RE2 and 3 remake demos, I was blown away but had I played this one, I might not have picked it up. But! It kind of gets better and better as it goes on so you're clear :)
There are certain parts where it hit that whimsy because I would be like "I'm actually doing this." I don't really wanna spoil those moments for you (if you don't know them already from the original) but even knowing some of them were coming, I was reminded of how cool some of the gameplay context moments were in Jedi Outcast and how rare it's been since then to feel that.
Leon is very reactive, whether it be his grunts and breathing or when he's hurt to when there's poop and flies and he waves his hands and puts his hands up to his face. There were some points that I knew what was going on just based on his reactions alone. I mean the controller itself is used quite effectively too with voices coming on it and such.
Leon's whole personality has shifted, he was a dork in the last game (RE2) but he's become hardened, something that I've always found the contrast of as a little too much, too uncomfortable for me but hearing his voice lines, he's still a dork at heart, just has a lot more going on and is better prepared for it…mostly. In RE2, he'd say "What the-" whenever he saw something unnatural like a zombie now he says it when he sees something common like a bodybag. I mean, what happened between 2 and 4 is really up to a few second recap so a whole game could've filled that period but whatever. If you get confused, apparently Darkside Chronicles has some of that information but you probably know that's not an easy one to find.
One of the things I enjoyed about RE3RE was that it had the quick dodge. Some people thought this mechanic was too broken because once you got a rhythm down, you could parry. Well you don't have the quick dodge this time (THANKS A LOT!) but you have an evade which is a quick time that appears whenever it feels like it. But you can also stealth kill if you have the knife and if they have a knife then you can parry that and I say if you have the knife because it now breaks and you can either repair it or find a new one but eventually it wasn't really a problem because I found them so frequently. You also have a melee which after getting a zombie stunned you can kick for a wide effect (hitting multiple targets) and or depending on the situation, strike them with your knife. It's especially helpful when they've hit the ground because you're not awkwardly standing over them to try and aim your reticle to make sure they stay down while they're rising up again, instead, you just give it a finishing move. But what's that? You have no room for a knife in your inventory because it's packed with grenades? Just use the item box. What's that? You can't store just anything? Mainly weapons? Well, that sucks. So it gives, it takes.
In fact, I feel like what I liked about RE3 wasn't really present here but what I disliked about RE3 wasn't really an issue here either, leaving room for new things to like, perhaps even more. With that said, there are parts reminiscent of RE3RE like how the Hospital plays out, having Jill out of commission and you play as Carlos to go around the place, getting key cards and such, running into pale heads, giving her a cure. That's basically done the same way with Ashley and Leon, it's not a tired trope because it's only happened once before as far as I know but that's the only pass I'll give it for that. This is also a much longer game than the previous ones so it's not as detrimental.
There are traps now, stuff to slow you down and hurt you just a little but enough that it may hurt more in the long run (not like poison but if a zombie gets you or something, you're down that much more) but you can eat chicken eggs now, so you're good! Speaking of zombies, they are indeed zombies but more like people with a spell put on them sort of. Necromanced or whatever. You can jump through windows, the world is bigger to explore but not so big that you're getting (totally) lost (I mentioned linear passages after all). This allows for more collectible opportunities.
Money, there's a money system which is obviously used for the merchant, this allows for challenges you can complete for dough, similar to that of the ones that are usually in the menu. Most of your weapons come from this but that's the thing, I feel like everything is a soft introduction and I in no way mean that in a bad way, I mean it in the best way. You're not forced to use the merchant if you don't want to but it's definitely helpful and you can still pick up some of the weapons and items here and there like any other game if you wanted.
There's a treasure system which you can collect stuff and then apply gems to make them more valuable to sell. It'd be cool if the treasures were collectibles in the menu and you in turn put gems in them to unlock the models and concept art they already have in there but still cool. Use that money to get upgrades and repairs and stuff.
It's split into chapters for whatever reason, which I don't really care for, it doesn't exactly hurt the experience but it does add to a series of other problems I had, making it feel like each chapter was something new but at the same time disjointing it overall. Sometimes like a tv show. Revelations did that as well. At one point I remember thinking "Did that happen in the actual game?" referring to the original, as if I wasn't already playing a game, it was kind of like an adaptation to me, where these scenes that I felt like I should know were being brought to a new screen kind of like HBO's The Last of Us. I feel like this was probably made for fans of the original. One thing I already know I prefer in the original is Ramon's design. He was a creepy little kid before, almost like a puppet but now he's just a little old man that acts like he's at the opera.
It ended up ranking about where I expected with me preferring RE2 just a little more for being a bit tighter around the edges but this game does improve on a lot from the ones previous, putting it above RE3 overall, we'll see how the memories of this game hold up though. I may even visit the original (is it that different?) now that it gave me interest. I was a little disappointed by that ending though. Not by the final boss or cutscenes but more that Ashley was pushed aside "We're a team, right?"